Small boat propulsion unit



June 19, 1962 K. A. BARTEL ET AL 3,039,421

SMALL BOAT PROPULSION UNIT Filed Dec. 2, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS jZTA. 5072 92 and 1?. J1 Cram 26 3 \ILL; '3

JLL L BY 569W ATTORNEY June 19, 1962 BARTEL ET AL 3,039,421

SMALL BOAT PROPULSION UNIT Filed Dec. 2, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS .ffxifiariez a 7161 1 .5. Cram Z617 ATTORNEY June 19, 1962 K. A. BARTEL ETAL SMALL BOAT PROPULSION UNIT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed D80. 2, 1958 INVENTORS fii/ifiariez and ATTORNEY RfiCrofr Zey y W IlEE.

United States Patent 3,039,421 SMALL BOAT PROPULSION UNIT Kenneth A. Bartel, 1615 N. Broadway, and Ray B. Crowley, 910 N. Monroe, both of Peoria, Ill. Filed Dec. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 777,701 1 Claim. (Cl. 115-21) This invention is designed to provide a simple, light weight, effective and durable boat propulsion means to be easily operated by hand to silently propel a small boat, for example, when fishing or duck hunting.

In carrying out the above end, one object of the invention is to provide a novel propulsion unit operable by vertically oscillating a handle.

Another object is to provide a novel propulsion unit in which steering is effected by mere turning of a hand grip.

A further object is to provide a novel propulsion unit embodying a hollow flywheel to be filled with water after the unit has been carried to and applied to the boat, said flywheel having internal means to cause rotation of the received water with the flywheel, and also having means permit-ting drawing of the water from the flywheel to lighten the weight when the unit is to be carried from the boat.

A still further object is to provide for automatic filling of the flywheel with water when the propulsion unit is initially operated.

Yet another object is to provide a novel propulsion unit in which a rotary impeller draws water into a housing and rearwardly discharges the water to effect boat propulsion.

With the above and other objects in view that will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompany drawing and particularly claimed.

In the drawing:

FIGS. 1 and 1A jointly disclose a vertical sectional view of the propulsion unit;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2-2 of FIG.' 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section on line 33 of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is a detail horizontal section on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top view; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged transverse section on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

The construction shown in the drawings will be rather specifically described but attention is invited to the possibility of making variations.

A clamp 10 is provided to engage the transom of a boat. A C-shaped bracket 11 is pivoted at 12, on a transverse horizontal axis, to the upper end of the clamp 10 and normally rests on a bumper 13. The bracket 11, however, may tilt in case the lower end of the propulsion unit strikes an obstruction. The upper arm of the bracket 11 is identified at 14, the lower arm at 15, and the armconnecting portion at 16. The lower arm 15 is provided with a vertical two-part bearing 17.

A vertical tubular shaft 18 has its upper end portion rotatably mounted in the bearing 17; and the lower end of this shaft 18 carries a rearwardly projecting horizontal impeller housing 19. This housing has water inlets 20 in its top and bottom, and has a rearwardly directed water outlet 21. An impeller 22 is rotatably mounted at 23, on a vertical axis, in the housing 19 and is operative to draw water into said housing through the inlets 20 and force the water from the outlet 21, to thereby propel the boat. The impeller preferably comprises upper and lower blade-carrying disks 24 and 25 integrally connected by a belt pulley 26.

A tubular drive shaft 27 extends through the tubular shaft 18, projects downwardly into the housing 19 and projects upwardly beyond said shaft 18. The lower end of the drive shaft 27 is provided with a belt pulley 28 which is operatively connected with the impeller pulley 26 by means of an elastic belt 29. The lower end of the drive shaft is mounted in a suitable bearing assembly 30 and is in open communication with the housing 19 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Between the bracket arms 14 and 15, the tubular drive shaft 27 is provided with a hollow flywheel 31; and said drive shaft 27 has openings 32 for discharging water into said flywheel to fill it. The upper extremity of the shaft 27 has a float valve 33 which vents air from the flywheel during filling of the same and then automatically closes. A valve casing is threadably connected to the upper end of the hollow shaft 27, and houses a float valve freely mounted in the valve housing and resting at its lower side on a cross rod or pin and spaced at its upper end from the vent opening at the upper end of the valve housing. The float valve that is free to rise and fall in the valve housing will not close the upper end of the tubular shaft 27, so that when water rises in the shaft it will push air in advance thereof around the float valve and out of the vent. When water has sufficiently risen in the tube 27 and valve housing, the float valve rises to close the air escape vent. During initial operation of the propulsion unit, the impeller 22 forces water up through the tubular drive shaft 27 and through the openings 32 into the flywheel 31 to fill the latter. During such filling, displaced from the flywheel, escapes through the vent valve 33 and upon complete filling, this valve closes.

To assure that the water received in the flywheel 31 shall rotate with this flywheel, radial partitions 34 are provided in said flywheel. These partitions are spaced from the drive shaft 27 except at their inner upper corners and the lower portions of said partitions surround a domed central portion 35 of the flywheel bottom. The lower edges of the partitions have notches 36 to prevent trapping of water between them when draining the flywheel to decrease weight when the propulsion unit is to be carried from the boat. A suitable drain cock 37 is shown in FIG, 1; and while water is being drained through said pet cock, air enters the flywheel through the then open valve 33.

Over the arm 14 of the bracket 11, there is an arm 38 which is mounted by means of a bearing assembly 39, for horizontal oscillation about the drive shaft 27. Another bearing assembly 40 is carried by the bracket arm 14 and associated with the bearing assembly 39 for rotatably mounting the upper end of the drive shaft 27. The arm 38 carries a pivoted dog 41 cooperable with a yieldable collar 42 on the drive shaft 27 to provide a one-way clutch connection between said arm 38 and said drive shaft. The arm 38 is biased to the position shown in FIG. 5 by a coiled spring 38* and each time said arm is swung forwardly from said position, the dog 41 and collar 42 impart a rotating impulse to the drive shaft 27 and its flywheel 31. Upon each rearward return of the arm 38, the dog 41 merely idles while the drive shaft and flywheel continue to rotate. A weighted lever and link mechanism 43 has been shown in FIG. 6 for biasing the dog 41 into light contact with the collar 42, in readiness to grip and turn this collar whenever the arm 38 is swung forwardly.

An operating handle 44 projects forwardly from the bracket and is pivoted, for vertical oscillation, to the bracket portion 16, as shown at 45. A pull cable 46 connects the handle 44 with the arm 38 and extends over a guide pulley 47. Each time the handle 44 is pushed downwardly, it pulls upon the. cable 46, thereby swinging the arm 38 forwardly to impart a rotating impulse to the drive shaft; and when downward pressure on said handle is relieved, the spring'38 rearwardly returns said arm 38 and upwardly returns said handle 44. Thus, by proper successive operations of the handle 44, the shaft 37 and flywheel 31 may be spun at desired speed, to cause driving of the impeller 22 to propel the boat. The initial spinning, it will be recalled, effects filling of the flywheel with water.

The handle 44 preferably consists of a minor inner section 48 pivoted to the bracket 11 and connected to the cable 46, and a major outer section 49 pivoted to said section 48 at 50, for compact upward folding when desired.

A hand grip 51 is rotatably mounted on the front end of the handle 44 and is secured to the front end of a flexible shaft 52. The rear end of this shaft 52 is coupled to a short shaft 53 rota-table in a bearing 54 carried by the bracket arm 15. The shaft 53 is provided with a bevel gear 55 which meshes with another bevel gear 56 secured to the upper end of the tubular shaft 18. By turning the hand grip 51, the gearing 55, 56 is operated to turn the shaft 18, thereby turning the impeller housing 19 to effect steering of the boat.

The element 57, in FIG. 1, is simply a bumper for limiting the downward movement of the handle 44.

The upper end portion of the propulsion unit is preferably encased in a suitable housing 58 shown in broken lines in FIG, 1.

From the foregoing description of the invention, it is believed that the construction, use, and operation thereof Will at once be apparent, and while there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

We claim:

A boat propulsion unit comprising a bracket for mounting on a boat, said bracket having a vertical bearing, a vertical tubular shaft having its upper end portion rotatably mounted in said bearing, an operating handle, manually operated means for turning said tubular shaft comprising a hand grip rotatably mounted on said handle, a flexible shaft secured to and extending rearwardly from said hand grip, means for transmitting motion from said flexible shaft to said tubular shaft, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in and projecting above said tubular shaft, a flywheel secured to said drive shaft above said tubular shaft, said flywheel being hollow to receive water, said drive shaft being tubular and in communication with said flywheel to deliver water into the latter, said propelling means being operative to upwardly force Water through said tubular drive shaft to fill said flywheel, said flywheel having internal means to cause rotation of the received water with said flywheel, said flywheel also having means permitting draining of water therefrom when the propulsion unit is to be carried.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 68,530 Rice Sept. 3, 1867 464,408 Williams Dec. 1, 1891 1,082,026 Huff Dec. 23, 1913 1,254,694 Humphn'es Jan. 29, 1918 1,452,433 Milton Apr. 17, 1923 1,518,916 Greenwell Dec. 9, 1924 1,910,443 Mobley May 23, 1933 2,487,195 Stephens Nov. 8, 1949 2,598,383 Holzhauser May 27, 1952 2,651,296 Irgens Sept. 8, 1953 2,659,312 Wahle Nov. 17, 1953 2,688,299 Gload et a1 Sept. 7, 1954 2,714,866 Pleuger et al Aug. 9, 1955 2,739,562 Hahs Mar. 27, 1956 2,743,698 Leonard et a1. May 1, 1956 2,844,120 Nelson July 22, 1958 

